Synthetic sisal or other matting...

[XiaoxiongMerrilyOnHigh]

We're moving into a house that will require complete replacing of all flooring, including the stairs. The dining room has lovely parquet flooring that needs varnishing but everything else will probably need some sort of carpet.

DH has allergies and saw a picture of sisal wall-to-wall carpeting and is now agitating for this, at least on the stairs and in the reception rooms. I've only seen bad press for sisal because of its difficulty to keep clean and the fact that it shows stains so badly, and with a 1yo DS we will have stains aplenty.

Is there such a thing as synthetic sisal, or sisal that has been treated with something so as not to show stains?? I've googled but haven't found anything conclusive!

A company called Unnatural Flooring do a very high quality textured vinyl/lino type product that resembles close-woven sisal.

It's a super product which our in-house designer has used in several bathrooms. Apparently Prince Charles uses it in his bathrooms and if it's good enough for him...

In all honesty though, I'm not convinced it would look great on large expanses of floor, or feel as quiet underfoot as sisal.

You can get sisal-effect pure wool carpets, and the great advantage over natural sisal is that you can shampoo it.

If your husband is allergic to dust or pollen, he will be allergic to everything except hard flooring steam-mopped daily. At that point, your choices are pretty much limited to wood, though it could be painted. Avoid laminate as the glues can aggravate allergies and it's also really bad for the environment.

Ooh thanks. Will have a look and also see if we can find a sisal effect wool alternative.

Maybe real sisal would be ok on the stairs as they're less likely to get stained.

It is dust he's allergic to unfortunately - we have strategically placed inhalers in every room and I think it's definitely connected to the carpeting in our flat at the moment.

Have you heard of Bolon? It is woven vinyl from Sweden. I saw some in a flooring shop last week. Might be worth investigating.

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I usually stay well clear off any products that aren't the "real thing". I'd rather go without than with a cheap imitation.
However, we recently did a loft conversion and by the end of it had nearly run out of money. We still needed to get a carpet and I had my heart set on some sisal carpet, but there was no way we could have afforded it.
Instead (and somewaht reluctantly) I went for a poly"something" copy of sisal....from our local Carpetright shop (so 100% plastic).
I love it! In fact I would love to re-carpet the whole house in it. It feels good even barefoot, looks great and it's nice not to have to worry about possible stains.